Everyone always complains about how far away Los Angeles is from Claremont, and with good reason. LA has more bars than it does residents, and we have Heroes or The Press. LA has Melrose and Third Street Promenade, and we have that weird cat-themed clothing store in the Village. And, of course, on any given night in LAthere are dozens of bands playing at venues that range from dark, seedy clubs to the Staples Center. And although we have a surprisingly good live music scene here in Claremont, we don’t get bands with name recognition very often. I had resigned myself to this, before I realized that I hadn’t checked out the Glass House in a while.

The Glass House is located in the Pomona Arts Colony, which is a three block long area with coffee houses, vintage clothing stores, and poster shops. It’s even annexed to the Pomona Antique Row. In short, it’s everything the Village wishes it could be. The Glass House is gray and industrial, but it’s also the right size for a concert venue. Along one side of the wall, there’s an elevation for people who want to stand and watch the concert without being right out on the floor. There’s a snack bar in the back, and a second floor with tables for people who want to drink and just hang out.

It’s been a while since I had been to a concert where I wasn’t a hard-core fan. I was excited about seeing the band Sunday’s Best that night, but I only knew a handful of songs off the top of my head. Being so nonchalant about seeing a band was nice; instead of waiting in line for two hours for doors to open, I just walked up to the ticket window, a couple of minutes late. Tickets were reasonably priced–only $10 to see four bands–and had the loving reminder "Be Nice" printed on the ticket.

The opening band was interesting, to say the least. Noise Ratchet, a San Diego band that’s now on the Militia Group label, came out on stage. Before the first note had ended, the two guitarists and the bass player started moshing against each other on stage. Although the act seemed a little dated, the band didn’t seem too bad. The music was pretty rocking, even though the lyrics were unintelligible. Then the lead singer announced that his next song was called "The Train," and added that this was a train to God, to help lead him away from the drug and alcohol abuse that kids fall prey to. He then stood in a worshipful pose, looking lovingly up at what I assumed was God. Unfortunately for him, he was staring up at the giant disco ball that hangs out there.

Although Noise Ratchet is very much a Christian Rock emo band, they weren’t painful to sit through. The next band, however, was. At this point I should probably describe what most of the crowd consisted of: fourteen year-olds. Sure, there was your requisite older crowd: they mainly hung out in the back and actually seemed to appreciate the music. Not the kids that surrounded me. The virtually pre-pubescent guys were dressed like Sid Vicious, and the girls wore tube tops and glittery cat ears. The crowd that night makes a compelling argument for keeping shows 18 and over.

Although seeing Squad Five-O is a memory I’d rather repress, there were some things so terrible that they’re burned into my retinas. The lead singer looked like a very, very bad combination between Bon Jovi and Robert Smith, if you can even fathom that. The rest of the band was nondescript, except for the guitarist who looked like he was about to drop dead any second; that boy gave Richard Ashcroft competition for the sunken, heroin chic look. The band played strange punk music that the kids went crazy for. There was moshing galore, in addition to slam pits (if that’s what they even call them anymore). The band played a song called "Tramps On the Run" and "Fugitive," while the singer yelled out, "they’ll never take me alive." Oh, how I wish they weren’t just posturing, and that it really was a crime to play such bad music.

After what seemed like forever, Sunday’s Best came on and played a great set that the young kids weren’t all that into. I’ve heard them described as a mixture between early Sunny Day Real Estate and The Promise Ring. In any case, they’re good. Damn good. Since the crowd sucked so much, they didn’t play any of their slower songs that I think are their best work. But they did play tons of songs off their latest album, Poised to Break. The lyrics are clever, those guys know how to play their instruments, and they’re nice, too, a day or two before the show, I was instant messaging with one of the band members, who was thanking me for checking them out and supporting them. For anyone staying in the area, they’ll be playing with another good band–The Weakerthans–at the Troubadour.

The last band to go on stage was the definite headliner, The Juliana Theory. Thanks to the vile so-called music of Squad Five-O, I only got to hear two songs by Juliana Theory. They sounded pretty good, but then again I was desperately trying to get out of the venue in time, so you might not want to take my word for it.

So although I had to put up with two less than stellar bands that night, it was nice realizing that I only had to go about 15 minutes away from campus in order to see the bands I like. It’s cheap, convenient, and really fun, even if you don’t fit in with the Hot Topic-wearing high school kids.